Folks were grabbing their share of free crumbs and some that were a bit pricier at the opening of Crumbs Bake Shop at the King of Prussia Plaza Friday morning.

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The friendly staff was tempting shoppers with free samples, and many tasters, beckoned by the kindly court-jester logo, were then sauntering up to the showcase filled with some of the most magnificent-looking cupcakes imaginable.

“We want to introduce the product to people who may never have tasted a Crumbs cupcake before,” said Dean Luther, director of stores for Crumbs. “This is a great mall for us.”

With food court seating just around the bend, the upscale-ish, upper level of the Plaza’s “new” section provides the ideal setting for the gourmet cupcake chain’s 76th shop and its second mall location in the state, on the heels of an operation at Park City Center in Lancaster.

Crumbs is the first all-out bake shop at the mall since the Sticky Bun Shop closed its doors eons ago.

Like that local mom and pop legend, Crumbs started as a simple storefront — on the Upper West end of Manhattan, by an entrepreneur and his baking-buff wife. Eight years later, the trailblazing company became the first publicly traded cupcake chain, inspiring countless imitators.

By 2012, many were predicting the cupcake craze was doomed to be another foodie fad, but you’d never prove it by the crowd who came to gather their Crumbs on Friday, eating up the oversized Signature confections at $3.95 a pop, and the smaller, Classic size for $2.95.

Both sizes are the ideal sidekick to a cup of Starbucks coffee, served right here on the premises.

“We’re actually very competitive with our prices,” Luther said. “There are other cupcake retailers who have higher prices than we do. Our prices here in King of Prussia are the same as anywhere.”

Taste packs, featuring best sellers such as Red Velvet and Cookie Dough ($18) or mini cupcakes ($19.95), are extremely popular for parties and with bosses who enjoy treating their staffs to luxury baked goods, Luther allowed.

Making these portable treats even more portable is the Push Pop, a cupcake on a stick, available in limited flavors for $3.95.

Dense and satisfying enough to convert a die-hard donut guy, the boatload of flavors — baked daily and shipped in from a central location in Baltimore — are comfortingly familiar (Apple Cobbler, Carrot, Devils Food and Vanilla Coconut, the cupcake that launched an empire), while others are unpretentiously adventurous without being Cupcake Wars-wacky.

Leading the ladder pack: the one-and-only Cannoli cupcake, crowned with — you guessed it — a perfect mini cannoli.

Arguably, the easiest cupcake to cozy up to initially for many may be the Squiggle — chocolate cake filled with vanilla buttercream and covered in chocolate ganache icing with a white squiggle on top.

If it seems like you stumbled upon an old childhood chum, it’s because the cake was inspired by the now-gone Hostess Cupcake, forever remembered for its signature white curlicue accent.

Like many Crumbs confections, it never fails to induce smiles, Luther said.

“We want to serve smiles daily. When customers come in our store they’re going to reward themselves with something, whether it’s a Signature size cupcake or a Classic size cupcake or a muffin or a cup of Starbucks coffee,” he said. “They’re coming in happy and we want them to leave happy. That’s our goal. We’re thrilled to be here in King of Prussia and we know the customers will be coming in. We’ve already had such a great response.”